Senators face tough test against Bruins

Coming off a 4-3 overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Senators will have their hands full against another Atlantic Division rival Tuesday night, when they close out a five-game homestand by taking on the Boston Bruins at Canadian Tire Centre.

Trying to win four in a row for the first time since March 2017, the Senators know they’re in tough. Two weeks ago, the Bruins put them in their place 6-3 at Boston’s TD Garden, and that’s something that Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher won’t let his players forget.

The line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak did a lot of damage that afternoon, combining for five goals and six assists and 12 shots on goalie Mike Condon. If the Senators are to stand a chance of finishing the homestand with eight of 10 possible points, Bergeron and Co. have to be stopped.

“One that’s for sure: We have to prepare something against the Bergeron line,” Boucher said Monday. “That’s probably the best line in hockey right now. They’re dominant and they could win a game on their own.

“We definitely have to do better (Tuesday) than we did the last time we played them. We’re home, so hopefully we’re able to get some matchups to help us do that. We gave them space on the rush, outnumbered situations, and, when you play that line, you’ve got to have numbers back.

“You’d love to play the game freely, but you can’t. It’s not very smart to get on the ice and try to outplay those guys. That’s just not right. Nobody does.”

Still, the Senators are a different team than they were two weeks ago and they won’t be trying to play a free-wheeling game. They did a good job in the final 40 minutes against the Canadiens on Saturday, limiting opportunities on Craig Anderson.

The Senators will stick with Anderson against the Bruins — which isn’t a surprise — but there will be other changes. Winger Alex Formenton is ready to return from a concussion that resulted from a punch in the chin from Robert Hagg of the Philadelphia Flyers in a game on Oct. 10.

The 19-year-old Formenton, who still has junior eligibility with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, says he feels good.

“Trying to come back a little bit early wasn’t the plan. I had to trust the process and I’m ready to get back,” said Formenton, who missed three games. “I’m excited to get back.

“It was pretty easy to recover. There’s always going to be tough battles in games. That’s the way the game unfolded and that’s the way we had to play.”

Boucher wants to dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen for Tuesday’s game, but there are decisions yet to be made because Ben Harpur didn’t finish the skate Monday.

The Senators aren’t sure if they’re going to have Cody Ceci, either. He has missed three games because of two injuries in the first period of a 7-4 loss to Philadelphia. He finished that game even though he needed treatment between the first and second periods.

Ceci was on the ice for the skate Monday. He didn’t take any physical contact and the Senators aren’t yet sure when he’ll return. He indicated he had to speak with the training staff and would be a game-time decision on Tuesday.

“The last few days have been good. I just have to have a conversation with the training staff and then make a decision,” Ceci said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good. I haven’t really tested out physically, contact-wise, and I think we’ll leave that to (Tuesday) morning and push around to give it a real test.

“It was a weird injury, but they’ve both cleared up in the last few days.”

Being a spectator isn’t something Ceci is accustomed to because he hasn’t missed many games as a result of injuries. He suited up all 82 times last season and only missed three games in 2016-17.

“They’ve been playing great and that makes it easier,” Ceci said. “It’s painful when you’re out of the lineup and you wish you could help. They’ve been doing a great job without me.

“It’s unfortunate to get hurt. You train all summer and you’re anxious to get going. You train all year and you can’t play. It’s never fun to sit out any game.”

Boucher said he liked the Senators’ growth so far this season.

“At the beginning, you asked me what am I looking for, and I said I’m looking for fast growth,” he said. “We’ve asked everybody to grow fast in every aspect of the game and we’ve been scoring goals and we’re very activated with our defencemen.

“Since the Philly game, I think that’s when I saw our biggest growth. It was an eye-opener. I think we saw that we can’t go back and forth trying to play run-and-gun against a run-and-gun team. We want to play fast and we want to play our transition but we’ve got to be smart.”

We’ll find out against the Bruins just how much progress the Senators have made.

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